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Douglas College’s Event Magazine celebrates 40 years of literary adventure

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By Sharon Miki

na world where books are often used as

drink coasters and rhymes are most recited

when Katy Perry sings them while lounging
naked in cotton candy clouds, it can be difficult
to find a stable, long-lasting home for authentic
Canadian literature. And yet, Event Magazine
has done just that—for four decades.

Event is a literary magazine housed in the
halls of Douglas College. Released three times
per year, Event publishes the best in poetry,
fiction, non-fiction, and book reviews— often,
with award-winning results (this year alone,
Event was the winner of the 2011 National
Magazine Award for Fiction and a finalist for the
2011 National Magazine Award for Poetry).

Now, after forty years of publication, the
magazine is ready to celebrate its history and
look forward to the future.

Looking back

Event’s journey to become the magazine it is
today has been undulating. Although Event
published its first issue in the spring of 1971
from Douglas College, Douglas has not been the
magazine’s only home. In the 1980s, Douglas
College was split into Douglas College and
Kwantlen College (now Kwantlen Polytechnic
University) and the literary magazine moved
to the Kwantlen campus. After spending

a number of years with Kwantlen, Event
eventually returned to its original home in New
Westminster; however, the physical upheaval
of the magazine is just one example of the
struggles faced by a small, college-housed
literary magazine.

Regardless of where it’s been produced,
Event has always featured the work of both
new and established writers by and about
Canadians. Indeed, over the years Event has
featured the poems and stories of a variety of
talents, such as Evelyn Lau, Charles Bukowski,
and Kevin Chong (who also served as judge for
the magazine’s annual Creative Non-Fiction
Contest in 2011). By supporting both green and
well-known writers, Event is able to honour
and showcase those who have made a name
for themselves in the literary scene—whilst
also creating new superstars by giving up-and-
coming writers a venue to expose their ideas.

Similarly, Event has also undertaken

NA alli . ; ace ee :
NONE : , several projects that have become annual
; : traditions in the literary community. Most
pia ime el : notably, the Creative Non-Fiction Contest has

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run every year since 1987 and the Notes on
Writing Issue (which features reflections on
writing from prominent authors) has been a
yearly treat since 1992.

Today, former contributor, poet, and
Douglas College Creative Writing instructor
Elizabeth Bachinsky is the editor of Event.
Bachinsky’s advancement to her current role
as editor has spanned several years —exposing